Division 4Division 4 Notice of election and nominations
When a civic office in an area becomes vacant, the general manager of the council of the area is to give notice of the vacancy within 7 days:(a) to the Director-General and the Secretary of the Local Government and Shires Associations of New South Wales if the vacancy is in the office of a mayor elected by councillors, or(b) to the Electoral Commission, the Director-General and the Secretary of those Associations in any other case.
The date of the nomination day for an ordinary election or a by-election is the date of the fifth Wednesday before the day of the election, or such other date as the election manager determines in a particular case.
The place of nomination is determined by the returning officer, but it is to be the council’s office if practicable.
288 Notice of election and call for nomination proposals
(1) Not less than one week before the nomination day, the election manager is to give public notice of the election by advertisement in a newspaper circulating in the area.(2) The notice must:(a) invite proposals for nomination for the election, and(b) specify where nomination forms may be obtained, and(c) specify the date of the nomination day and the place of nomination, and(d) specify the date when the poll will be held for the election if more candidates are nominated than the number of councillors to be elected, and(e) give notice of the requirements under the Act for proposals for nomination (including the payment of deposits, the provision of candidate information sheets, the grouping of candidates and the creation of group voting squares).(3) The notice may contain any other information that the election manager thinks appropriate.(4) An advertisement may contain notices required by subclause (1) relating to more than one area.(5) The election manager must cause the information contained in a notice under this clause to be published on the election manager’s internet website until at least 12 noon on the nomination day for the election.(6) (Repealed)
(1) A candidate for election is to be proposed for nomination in a nomination paper:(a) in Form 2 by at least 2 proposers (other than the candidate) who are enrolled (at the closing date for the election) in respect of the same ward or area as the one in respect of which the candidate is proposed for nomination, or(b) in Form 3 by the registered officer of a registered political party.(2) Each candidate must be proposed on a separate nomination paper.(3) A nomination paper is not valid unless the person proposed for nomination in the paper has completed and signed the Form of Consent included in the paper.(4) A nomination paper is not in Form 2 or 3 unless:(a) it has printed on the back, or on an attached sheet, sections 274, 275, 276 and 283 of the Act, and(b) it is accompanied by a candidate information sheet that is in such form that the requirements of section 308 (1) of the Act can be satisfied, and(c) if the nomination proposal is for an ordinary election, it is accompanied by a statistical information sheet as specified in those forms.(4A) A given name of a candidate specified in a nomination paper as the form in which that name should be printed on the ballot-papers for the election may differ from the candidate’s given name as it appears on the roll only to the extent that the given name is specified by:(a) an initial standing for that name, or(b) a commonly accepted variation of the name (including an abbreviation or truncation of that name or an alternative form of that name), or(c) a commonly used other name specific to the candidate by which the candidate is usually identified (if the returning officer is satisfied that the proposed name is a commonly used other name specific to the candidate by which the candidate is usually identified).(5) A nomination paper must be delivered or sent (by post or otherwise), or transmitted by facsimile or email, so as to reach the returning officer by 12 noon on the nomination day. The returning officer must give a receipt for it if asked to do so.(5A) A nomination paper is not validly transmitted by email unless:(a) an image of the completed nomination paper signed by the proposers and the person proposed for nomination is included in or attached to the email, and(b) that image includes an image of the actual signatures as appearing on the nomination paper.(5B) The returning officer may make such inquiries as he or she thinks fit to confirm the authenticity of a nomination paper if he or she considers it appropriate to do so in the circumstances.(6) On receipt of a nomination paper, the returning officer must endorse on it the date and time of receipt.(7) The election manager is to supply a reasonable number of copies of Forms 2 and 3 free of charge to any person who applies for them.(8) A deposit for a nomination proposal is to be paid, by the person proposed for nomination or some person on his or her behalf, in cash or by a cheque issued by an authorised deposit-taking institution but not by way of personal cheque. The deposit must be paid by 12 noon on the nomination day.
290 Candidate information sheets
(1) The matters prescribed for the purposes of section 308 (2) of the Act that are to be included in a candidate information sheet are:(a) the proposed candidate’s full name, and(b) the suburb, town or other locality of the proposed candidate’s place of living (as shown on a roll kept under the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912), and(c) whether the proposed candidate is a member of any registered political party and, if so, the name of the party, and(d) whether the proposed candidate is qualified to hold the civic office concerned by virtue of being enrolled on:(i) the residential roll for the ward or area concerned, or(ii) the non-residential roll for the ward or area concerned, or(iii) the roll of occupiers and ratepaying lessees for the ward or area concerned.(2) Nothing in this clause prevents the inclusion of other matters (such as the proposed candidate’s date of birth, occupation, trade and professional qualifications, membership of organisations, the registered party (if any) that has endorsed the proposed candidate, statements as to the proposed candidate’s policies and beliefs, and other qualifications relevant to the proposed candidature).(3) A candidate information sheet must be written or typed on a form supplied by an election official. The form is to consist of one side of an A4 sheet of paper.(4) As soon as practicable after a candidate is nominated, the election manager must cause the information contained in the candidate’s information sheet to be published on the election manager’s internet website until at least election day. The election manager may edit the format in which the information is presented on the website and may delete any material the election manager thinks inappropriate to be included.(5) (Repealed)
291 Withdrawal of nomination proposals
(1) Manner of withdrawal
A nomination proposal may be withdrawn by the delivery or sending (by post or otherwise), or the transmission by facsimile or email, to the returning officer of a notice in writing signed personally by the person proposed for nomination.(2) Timing of withdrawal
The notice must be delivered, sent or transmitted so as to reach the returning officer by 12 noon on the nomination day.(3) Emailed withdrawal notice
The notice is not validly transmitted by email unless:(a) an image of the completed notice signed by the person proposed for nomination is included in or attached to the email, and(b) that image includes an image of the actual signature as appearing on the notice.(4) Inquiries as to authenticity of withdrawal notice
The returning officer may make such inquiries as he or she thinks fit to confirm the authenticity of a withdrawal notice if he or she considers it appropriate to do so in the circumstances.
292 Multiple nomination proposals
(1) If a person has been proposed for nomination in respect of more than one ward in an area, and by 12 noon on the nomination day there are still proposals for the nomination of the person in respect of more than one ward in that area, those proposals are all invalid.(2) A proposal for nomination for election as councillor is invalid if it is made by a person who has already proposed as many candidates for election as councillor for an area or ward as there are councillors to be elected for that area or ward.(3) A proposal for nomination for election as mayor of an area is invalid if it is made by a person who has already proposed a candidate for election as mayor of that area.(4) Subclauses (2) and (3) do not apply in any case where the proposals referred to are made by the registered officer for a political party registered in the Local Government Register of Political Parties.
(1) A deposit in respect of the nomination of a person (the candidate) is to be returned if:(a) the candidate withdraws the proposal for nomination or cannot be nominated because the candidate is not qualified to hold civic office, or(b) the candidate dies before election day, or(c) the candidate is elected (whether or not a poll is taken), or(d) the candidate receives at least 4 per cent of the total number of formal first preference votes, or(e) the name of the candidate appears in a group on the ballot-papers and any candidate whose name appears in that group is elected or receives at least 4 per cent of the total number of formal first preference votes, or(f) a poll is not taken in the ward or area for which the candidate has been nominated.(2) The deposit that is to be returned under subclause (1) is to be returned:(a) to the candidate (or to some person authorised in writing by the candidate to receive it), unless paragraph (b) applies, or(b) to the candidate’s personal representatives, if the candidate died before election day.(3) A deposit that is not required to be returned is to be forfeited to the council.
294 Inspection of names of persons proposed for nomination
(1) A person is to be allowed, at any reasonable time in office hours, to inspect, without charge, a list prepared by the returning officer of:(a) the full names of persons proposed for nomination, and(b) the names under which those persons have requested, in the consents to their nomination papers, that they be shown on the ballot-papers, and(c) the suburb, town or other locality of the place of living as enrolled of those persons (as stated on the nomination papers).(2) A copy of the list in its current form must be displayed on the election manager’s internet website between the time when the first name is placed on the list and noon on the nomination day.
295 Returning officer to nominate candidates
(1) On the nomination day, and in the presence of such scrutineers and such reasonable number of other persons as choose to be present, the returning officer is to do the following, commencing at 12 noon:(a) attend at the place of nomination, and(b) announce any withdrawals of nominations, and(c) cancel the nomination papers of the persons who have withdrawn, and(d) nominate as candidates for election the persons whose nomination papers the returning officer believes to be valid and that have not been cancelled.(2) The name under which the returning officer is to nominate a person as a candidate for election is:(a) the name under which the person has requested, in the consent to that person’s nomination paper, that the person be shown on the ballot-papers, or(b) if the returning officer is not satisfied that that name is either one of the given names of the person or a generally recognised abbreviation or derivative of one of the given names together with the full surname of the person—the first given name and the surname of the person.(3) On or as soon as practicable after the nomination day, the returning officer is to deliver or send to the election manager a list or lists of:(a) the persons proposed for nomination and the names under which the persons have requested, in the consents to their nomination papers, that they be shown on the ballot-papers and of the wards or area for which they are proposed, and(b) the persons nominated as candidates under subclause (1).(4) Within 5 days after the nomination day, the returning officer (in relation to an election administered by a general manager) is to deliver or send to the Election Funding Authority of New South Wales a list or lists of:(a) the persons proposed for nomination and the names under which the persons have requested, in the consents to their nomination papers, that they be shown on the ballot-papers and of the wards or area for which they are proposed, and(b) the persons nominated as candidates under subclause (1).
296 Declaration of uncontested election
(1) If, on the nomination day, candidates are taken to be elected in accordance with section 311 of the Act, the returning officer must, at the place and time of nomination, declare in writing the names of the candidates so elected.(2) The declaration is to be signed by the returning officer and is to state the names of the candidates declared elected (being the names under which those candidates were nominated by the returning officer) and the ward or area for which they have been elected.(3) After declaring the election, the returning officer must:(a) display the written declaration in a conspicuous position at the office of the relevant council and at the place of nomination (if that place is not the office of the council), and(b) deliver or send a copy of the written declaration to the Electoral Commission, the Director-General, the Secretary of the Local Government and Shires Associations of New South Wales, and the relevant general manager.(c) (Repealed)(3A) The election manager must:(a) insert a copy of the written declaration in a newspaper circulating in the relevant area, and(b) cause the information in the declaration to be published on the election manager’s internet website for at least one month.(4) The general manager of a council must, on application to the council by any person, deliver or send to the person a copy of the written declaration.